Texas Recruiting Notes 2021

[NoName 17,179]

1 minute ago, Bevo14 said:

Did he play any defense this year? It doesn't show any defensive stats on 247.

they are on his maxpreps profile - he had 12 and 14 tackles the last 2 years while playing in 14 and 13 games.

https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/jatavion-sanders/YTjNXLsaEeeT-Oz0u-e-FA/football/stats.htm

[totallynotabuttpirate 5,492]

Damn, @NoName bringing the heat. 

My expectation/wish is that he's better than Brewer after a few games. Anything more is pure gravy. 

[Burt Macklin 19,230]

Just now, totallynotabuttpirate said:

Damn, @NoName bringing the heat. 

My expectation/wish is that he's better than Brewer after a few games. Anything more is pure gravy. 

Hopefully we won’t know either way because Wiley’s busy getting all the snaps. 

[totallynotabuttpirate 5,492]

Just now, Burt Macklin said:

Hopefully we won’t know either way because Wiley’s busy getting all the snaps. 

True dat. 

[MuellerHorn 4,630]

15 minutes ago, NoName said:

it's like people forget that blocking is a actually huge part of being a TE

come on, he isn't going to be the best in the room considering Wiley and Liebrock now will have 3 and 2 years of college S&C under their belt + multiple years of training/blocking. 

is he going to be better than Cade fucking Brewer and Malcolm Epps? sure.

if he leads the TE room in catches in 2021 either things have gone very poorly and players have gotten hurt/left the program or he is the second coming of Travis Kelce

FYI, Kelce had 1 catch his freshman year in 11 games and 0 his soph (suspended)

Maybe he is more of a George Kittle? 5 catches FR year and 1 his SO.

Mark Andrews? 19 catches FR and 31 SO

Darren Waller? 8 and 17

Gronk had 38 and 47

Jason Witten? 1 catch (partial season on offense) and 28 SO

Tony Gonzalez? 8 and 37.

Kyle Pitts? 3 and 54

Jake Butt? 20 and 21.

Hunter Henry? 28 and 37.

Aaron Hernandez? 9 and 34

TJ Hockenson? 0 and 34

There is a reason college TEs take time to get "broken in" - that shit is hard vs in HS when he mostly ran patterns and threw around dudes who were smaller than he was.

 

First off, this is a phenomenal post.

Secondly, Sanders is going to have to learn that he needs to be a reliable receiver and can't always go for a one-handed, SportsCenter Top-10 type of catch. Sure, he made some ridiculous plays, but many of his catches had meaningless added difficulty (especially when considering half the defenders on him were 5'9-5'11). He may flash in year one at any position, but he probably won't set the world on fire like Bijan did. The jump to P5 TE or DE is way harder than a position like WR or RB.

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by MuellerHorn

[Fud 9,724]

I think Sanders profiles to be a pretty badass two way TE

[billfromlaketravis 11,867]

Thanks for research @NoName. 

Sark has publicly said Texas needs more DEs, so I could see Sanders starting at TE, and then asking to play defense when he sees the opportunity for playing time. Hopefully Wiley is our primary TE next season with Liebrock progressing as the second TE. 

I do think Sanders is the rarest of players, he should play both offense and defense. He's dynamic with the football in his hands while projecting as a NFL DE. 

[Scholz 12,312]

4 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I do think Sanders is the rarest of players, he should play both offense and defense. He's dynamic with the football in his hands while projecting as a NFL DE. 

They genetically spliced Aaron Donald and Julio Jones and engineered Ja'Tavion.

[Lonestar88 5,183]

36 minutes ago, NoName said:

they are on his maxpreps profile - he had 12 and 14 tackles the last 2 years while playing in 14 and 13 games.

https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/jatavion-sanders/YTjNXLsaEeeT-Oz0u-e-FA/football/stats.htm

Those max preps stats are not accurate. They rely on users to update them and they often just don’t get updated.

They list him as having no interceptions his senior year and I watched him get a pick 6 against Arlington Martin earlier this season

Edited January 20, 2021 by Lonestar88

[BurntOrange&White 42,008]

3 minutes ago, Scholz said:

They genetically spliced Aaron Donald and Julio Jones and engineered Ja'Tavion.

[Fud 9,724]

11 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Thanks for research @NoName. 

Sark has publicly said Texas needs more DEs, so I could see Sanders starting at TE, and then asking to play defense when he sees the opportunity for playing time. Hopefully Wiley is our primary TE next season with Liebrock progressing as the second TE. 

I do think Sanders is the rarest of players, he should play both offense and defense. He's dynamic with the football in his hands while projecting as a NFL DE. 

He said that, and then added a grad transfer edge player who'll likely start this year, and is likely taking two more DE commitments to close out the class while already having several committed

[NoName 17,179]

29 minutes ago, Fud said:

I think Sanders profiles to be a pretty badass two way TE

agreed, BUT the point is that in Year 1, very few guys are stars. huge learning curve for a normal guy who played TE, much less one who basically is running patterns most plays vs blocking

[NoName 17,179]

7 minutes ago, Lonestar88 said:

Those max preps stats are not accurate. They rely on users to update them and they often just don’t get updated.

They list him as having no interceptions his senior year and I watched him get a pick 6 against Arlington Martin earlier this season

well, shit. i was under the impression they were accurate

did he play much at DE then?

[BurntOrange&White 42,008]

The old saying used to be put your best athletes on defense.....well those days are over. 

 

Put your best athletes on offense when the advanced stats say big play and explosive touchdowns are what win games.  

 

That's why I think we should put him at offense. He could literally have an impact on offense at that position that we haven't had since Finley/Thomas. That is an every down impact not just when he's targeted. Teams will have to account for him and it would allow us to be multiple without much substitutions.  With motions and etc from Sark it could create huge opportunities to get him the ball as well. I think it will be easier for him to pick up blocking with his defensive background and get to an elite level at tight end faster than figuring out could be on defense.

 

The sky is the limit but for immediate purposes his best position is going to be TE IMO but he does have more potential on the defensive side of the ball. Could be a 1st round pick at TE or defense but I prefer immediate results with a new coaching staff vs waiting a year for a guy to reach potential. 

[NoName 17,179]

Just now, BurntOrange&White said:

The old saying used to be put your best athletes on defense.....well those days are over. 

 

Put your best athletes on offense when the advanced stats say big play and explosive touchdowns are what win games.  

 

That's why I think we should put him at offense. He could literally have an impact on offense at that position that we haven't had since Finley/Thomas. That is an every down impact not just when he's targeted. Teams will have to account for him and it would allow us to be multiple without much substitutions.  With motions and etc from Sark it could create huge opportunities to get him the ball as well. I think it will be easier for him to pick up blocking with his defensive background and get to an elite level at tight end faster than figuring out could be on defense.

 

The sky is the limit but for immediate purposes his best position is going to be TE IMO but he does have more potential on the defensive side of the ball. Could be a 1st round pick at TE or defense but I prefer immediate results with a new coaching staff vs waiting a year for a guy to reach potential. 

i agree with most of what you are saying with the exception of blocking, mainly because we have years of examples that show being a decent blocker is hard to pick up.

 

[BurntOrange&White 42,008]

Just now, NoName said:

i agree with most of what you are saying with the exception of blocking, mainly because we have years of examples that show being a decent blocker is hard to pick up.

 

Yeah but it's been years since we have had a staff that is actually good at development. I was going to edit the post to add that little tidbit. But I feel this staff is the best coaching/developmental staff since 98/99 and DKR days before that. 

 

It won't be just Banks working with him but Flood will be involved too.  Just being a serviceable blocker about halfway through his freshmen campaign will be good enough IMO. 

[Bevo14 8,470]

They'll probably use Sanders more like a flex TE than a traditional TE.

[Lonestar88 5,183]

9 minutes ago, NoName said:

well, shit. i was under the impression they were accurate

did he play much at DE then?

In the games I saw, he played a decent amount. Not as much as offense but enough to know he was beast on defense too. 247 has his junior year defensive stats as 39 tackles and 11 sacks. I don’t know if that’s accurate either but it sounds a lot closer to reality than what’s on Max preps. It’s pretty hard to find accurate high school defensive stats online.

 

This was the pick 6 his senior year btw. Ironically posted by Max Preps.

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Lonestar88

[HtownHorn 15,231]

1 hour ago, longhornmatt said:

He might immediately be the best edge rusher, too.  That’s more of an indictment of what else we have there,  though, unless Dorbah sat even though he was better than guys in front of him.   I feel better about Wiley at TE next year than anyone we have at Jack / rush end.

But he wouldn't because he doesn't want to play the position. Just being a great athlete doesn't translate if you have no desire.

[billfromlaketravis 11,867]

I think too much is made of the two way high school players deciding on offense or defense in college. Players get moved around all time, and it's not unique to just Texas. Sanders probably won't play much as a freshman, so it really doesn't matter where he starts. 

[Fud 9,724]

It matters where he starts because if he starts where he finishes, he'll contribute earlier vs starting and then changing later on 

[HtownHorn 15,231]

31 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Thanks for research @NoName. 

Sark has publicly said Texas needs more DEs, so I could see Sanders starting at TE, and then asking to play defense when he sees the opportunity for playing time. Hopefully Wiley is our primary TE next season with Liebrock progressing as the second TE. 

I do think Sanders is the rarest of players, he should play both offense and defense. He's dynamic with the football in his hands while projecting as a NFL DE. 

Sarkisian routinely runs 12 personnel. Brewer is not going to play TE for Sarkisian, more likely he's going to move to HB/FB role. We don't anything about Liebrock, other than he might portal out because he got almost no playing time in 2 seasons at Texas. Wiley has been injury prone to say the least. So really saying that Sanders is the best TE the day he walks onto campus is not a stretch. You could easily see Wiley inline and Sanders flexed out.

I didn't watch a lot of Alabama games the past few years, but I seem to remember them running WR screens with their TE, Forristall, as the lead blocker, which is already an improvement over Kai Money and Moore being the lead blocker.

My guess is Sarkisian will likely want to include Sanders in the game plan, much like Irv Smith, even though, he technically wasn't the OC during Smith's time at Alabama.

[Fico 1,806]

1 hour ago, BurntOrange&White said:

The old saying used to be put your best athletes on defense.....well those days are over. 

 

Put your best athletes on offense when the advanced stats say big play and explosive touchdowns are what win games.  

 

That's why I think we should put him at offense. He could literally have an impact on offense at that position that we haven't had since Finley/Thomas. That is an every down impact not just when he's targeted. Teams will have to account for him and it would allow us to be multiple without much substitutions.  With motions and etc from Sark it could create huge opportunities to get him the ball as well. I think it will be easier for him to pick up blocking with his defensive background and get to an elite level at tight end faster than figuring out could be on defense.

 

The sky is the limit but for immediate purposes his best position is going to be TE IMO but he does have more potential on the defensive side of the ball. Could be a 1st round pick at TE or defense but I prefer immediate results with a new coaching staff vs waiting a year for a guy to reach potential. 

I agree with you on a lot, especially the capability to be multiple without giving the D time to sub. On the other hand, a DE can impact a game in a way I don't think the way a TE is possible. To your point on best athletes and explosive plays, a game changer at DE take away those explosive plays from an offense. IMO, they are harder to find/recruit plus harder to scheme against once you have dominate one. All in all, I am just glad he's a 'horn. 

 

 

And just because

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Fico

[MuellerHorn 4,630]

4 minutes ago, Fico said:

And just because

 

The ironic (and moronic) aspect is that this play would be considered "targeting" now. So, not an impact play.

Edited January 20, 2021 by MuellerHorn

[cafe society 2,903]

Let Sanders start at TE if he wants.  Keep the DE option open because it will eventually come to his attention that TE ranks down there with fullback and long snapper as the lowest avg paid NFL positions.

[Getafix 29,461]

 

Horns 247 / Mike Roach / VIP intel on a new 247Sports Crystal Ball forecast

 

Spoiler

VIP intel on a new 247Sports Crystal Ball forecast

MikeRoach
 

The Texas staff hit the ground running this week attacking the recruiting trail with everything they have. Bo Davis is looking to add more bodies on the defensive line, and he might be closer to adding two. Last night I entered a 247Sports Crystal Ball for three-star Tyler Legacy DE Garfield Lawrence, and today I'm entering a pick for David Abiara. The four-star defensive end from Mansfield Legacy was previously committed to Notre Dame but decommitted from the Irish last fall.

Texas has been monitoring Abiara through the fall and decided to move on him with an offer this week. When Horns247 spoke to Abiara in the summer, he mentioned the Texas education and proximity to home as something that would really appeal to him. Washington was previously thought to be the biggest contender over the last few weeks, but with Texas engaging and Pete Kwiatkowski headed to Austin, sources near Abiara feel Texas is moving into position to close.

247Sports National Recruiting Analyst Gabe Brooks compares Abiara to Kentucky DL Josh Paschal and describes his game in the following way.

"Big-framed defensive end prospect with requisite height and body space to add significant bulk in a college strength and conditioning program. Experienced at end in a four-man front, but could potentially fit multiple schemes. Possibility to grow into an interior player depending on front. Strong at the point of attack. Shows ability to turn and steer blockers with inside arm. Plays with good arm extension to aid in disengaging ability. Dips and runs the arc fairly well for a larger end. Shows encouraging move set as a pass-rusher. Can improve get-off quickness and body control. Good in pursuit but gears down to change direction. Sometimes plays too high and goes upright at the snap. Bona fide Power 5-caliber defensive line prospect who flashes impressive hand violence and phone booth strength. Projects to the high-major level with potential for a long-term NFL Draft ceiling."

At 6-foot-4, 248 pounds, Abiara is ranked as the No. 24 strong-side defensive end in the nation and No. 51 overall prospect in Texas, according to 247Sports Composite.

 

 

[satyanash 15,657]

(Mike Farrell) Fact or Fiction: Ja'Tavion Sanders should play TE at Texas

Quote

1. Ja’Tavion Sanders should play TE at Texas.

Farrell’s take: FICTION. Sanders is an elite talent and very good at tight end, but he’s a potential freak as a defensive end and that’s where he needs to play in Austin. Throw him the ball in the red zone here and there to keep him happy, but he’s much more valuable on defense, even for the offensive-minded Steve Sarkisian.

Gorney’s take: FACT. Sanders would be an awesome defensive end as he’s already flashed at that position and he has special physical tools, but he’s even more motivated to star on the offensive side of the ball, so that’s where he should play. If Sanders doesn’t really want to play defense and he has a real passion for offense then Sarkisian can find really inventive ways to get him the ball. As a defensive end, Sanders would be fantastic and if the Texas coaches can convince him to really put his heart into it then that’s great. But if not, he can be a dominant tight end.

2. The Vols will lose multiple bowl years and scholarships.

Farrell’s take: FICTION. I have a feeling a message won’t be sent here by the NCAA as this investigation started internally. I would say at worst the Vols get a one-year bowl ban and lose perhaps nine scholarships over a three-year period or something similar down the line, but they won’t get hammered like USC did. That doesn’t happen in the SEC.

Gorney’s take: FACT. The investigation is ongoing, so this is probably premature, but when Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman talks about a “significant number of serious NCAA rules violations,” things could get really ugly. Not only was coach Jeremy Pruitt, fired but so were a bunch of other staffers and two assistant coaches. This feels like the investigation is going to be broader and more far-reaching than we already know. In the letter firing Pruitt, it says his failures would lead to “significant penalties.” The extent of those are unclear, but this looks bad with potential that it could get even worse.

3. Justyn Ross coming back to Clemson is more important than Chris Olave returning to Ohio State.

Farrell’s take: FACT. The Clemson receiving group needs Ross much more than Ohio State does because the influx of young talent in Columbus at the position is insane. Not only do the Buckeyes have Garrett Wilson and last year’s five-stars in Julian Fleming and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but Gee Scott is also there, along with incoming star Emeka Egbuka. Clemson has some nice talent as well, but nothing like Ohio State right now and Ross will immediately be WR1.

Gorney’s take: FACT. There are two things at work here: Ross is better than Olave, a more dominant receiver who put up massive numbers in his first two seasons and if not for the neck injury would have been in the discussion as the best receiver in this draft class. Plus, Ohio State’s wide receiver corps is going to be outstanding next season with big targets and speed guys, so Ross is definitely more important in Clemson’s offense. Both teams will be loaded and should be in the playoff again.

 

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,811]

11 minutes ago, satyanash said:

(Mike Farrell) Fact or Fiction: Ja'Tavion Sanders should play TE at Texas

2. The Vols will lose multiple bowl years and scholarships.

Farrell’s take: FICTION. I have a feeling a message won’t be sent here by the NCAA as this investigation started internally. I would say at worst the Vols get a one-year bowl ban and lose perhaps nine scholarships over a three-year period or something similar down the line, but they won’t get hammered like USC did. That doesn’t happen in the SEC.

Missouri says hi

 

[Elmer_Fudd 23,033]

I know the majority of this board will be bummed getting Abiara, but I could have definitely seen him going to UW if PK had stayed, end up being a 2 year starter, and being a mid round draft pick.

[Getafix 29,461]

Don't know whether he has the option to or whether there's any chance whatsoever ... but this would be interesting, if it happened.

 

[satyanash 15,657]

4 minutes ago, Getafix said:

Don't know whether he has the option to or whether there's any chance whatsoever ... but this would be interesting, if it happened.

 

A familiar refrain with Herman's players. But if anyone left too early it's Caden Sterns.

[Thiefery 5,112]

even if a second rounder.. you leave

[GRHorn 105]

15 minutes ago, Getafix said:

Don't know whether he has the option to or whether there's any chance whatsoever ... but this would be interesting, if it happened.

 

No no no this can’t be true. I was told that he was smart to opt out of the end of the season because of his high draft status.

49 minutes ago, satyanash said:

(Mike Farrell) Fact or Fiction: Ja'Tavion Sanders should play TE at Texas

 

Sanders should play TE. The only elite plays I’ve seen him make on defense were when he used his hands to snag picks. His highest ceiling is offense. And that’s what he wants to play. This isn’t hard. 
 

13 minutes ago, satyanash said:

A familiar refrain with Herman's players. But if anyone left too early it's Caden Sterns.

Caden is too bad. He’s limited a bit athletically and I’ve talked some with one of his old coaches and he said he thinks he’s lost his way. And it wasn’t the first time he could use some productive redirection. He required it in high school. 

[GRHorn 105]

7 minutes ago, Thiefery said:

even if a second rounder.. you leave

What about 3rd rounder?

[Thiefery 5,112]

1 minute ago, GRHorn said:

What about 3rd rounder?

still leave.. he saw on TV what happened to Kertsetter, and luckily it wasn't as bad as it looked.

[Dijon Robinson 1,511]

2 minutes ago, Thiefery said:

still leave.. he saw on TV what happened to Kertsetter, and luckily it wasn't as bad as it looked.

I tend to side with supporting players that opt out but Kerstetter had a freak injury. There were hundreds of lineman who played this year who didn't suffer any major injuries.

 

26 minutes ago, Getafix said:

Don't know whether he has the option to or whether there's any chance whatsoever ... but this would be interesting, if it happened.

 

Has Cosmi announced that he's signed with an agent? To my knowledge that's the "point of no return".

[Lhorn 5,098]

A second round draft grade means he needs to go back to school? Not saying he couldn’t benefit but since when is a second round pick not good enough?

[RGBIII 23,020]

58 minutes ago, satyanash said:

A familiar refrain with Herman's players. But if anyone left too early it's Caden Sterns.

and Eagles

[Getafix 29,461]

34 minutes ago, Dijon Robinson said:

I tend to side with supporting players that opt out but Kerstetter had a freak injury. There were hundreds of lineman who played this year who didn't suffer any major injuries.

 

Has Cosmi announced that he's signed with an agent? To my knowledge that's the "point of no return".

 

Not sure, but sounds like Jan 18 was the last date to pull his name out of the draft and return to school.  So that option may no longer be available.

 

[USMCHorn 1,369]

Cosmi is not coming back to school. Let's not even waste our time with that thought.

[HtownHorn 15,231]

4 hours ago, satyanash said:

A familiar refrain with Herman's players. But if anyone left too early it's Caden Sterns.

Lulz, Caden Sterns was a 5 star bust. Known more getting injured than stellar on the field play. It's likely he would have been benched by the new coaching staff. Add into it the bad locker room guy he turned into, equals glad to see him go.

Edited January 21, 2021 by HtownHorn

[Dijon Robinson 1,511]

4 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Lulz, Caden Sterns was a 5 star bust. Known more getting injured than stellar on the field play. It's likely he would have been benched by the new coaching staff. Add into it the bad locker room guy he turned into, equals glad to see him go.

"Bad locker room guy" = "player who disagrees with me on social issues"

[HtownHorn 15,231]

Just now, Dijon Robinson said:

"Bad locker room guy" = "player who disagrees with me on social issues"

I thought he was one of the guys telling recruits not to come to Texas.

[satyanash 15,657]

7 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

It's likely he would have been benched by the new coaching staff.

Then he should have tried to transfer. Whether it's here or at some G5 school, Sterns needed another year before going pro.

[Dijon Robinson 1,511]

1 minute ago, HtownHorn said:

I thought he was one of the guys telling recruits not to come to Texas.

Assuming you're referring to the comment on 247, which I honestly can't remember if Sterns was included in, I'll wait for a second opinion.

Anonymous internet posters also tried to tell us Carrington was trashing the program to recruits.

[Hank_Hill 20,105]

Sterns had an opinion, clearly toxic to the locker room.

[Hornius Emeritus 12,808]

7 hours ago, MuellerHorn said:

The ironic (and moronic) aspect is that this play would be considered "targeting" now. So, not an impact play.

 

And yet, Potts is still feeling the impact.  Ironic.

[cmontexas 3,377]

Sanders has tremendous athleticism for his size, but I didnt witness the kind of explosive first step you want from an elite edge defender

[CHIEF 5,229]

33 minutes ago, Dijon Robinson said:

"Bad locker room guy" = "player who disagrees with me on social issues"

Dude, quit being a fuckstick, that is absolutely not what he meant. For fucks sake.

CHIEF

[Sgt. Slaughter 2,903]

35 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

I thought he was one of the guys telling recruits not to come to Texas.

Even if he was, can you blame him? Most of us probably share a similar viewpoint on Herman and the way he ran the program.